Another Leslieville front garden makeover

Leslieville front garden renovation with pollinators in mind

As summer rolls on, I've recently completed another front garden makeover for this Leslieville client. The front garden actually is shared between the two owners with most of the area owned by one (who hired me.) The area is a narrow strip that's about 4' wide by 20' long, in full sun during the day and watered by an irrigation system.

The owner wanted more flowers (besides the Shasta daisy, there are none) and didn't like how the ornamental grasses "spilled" over onto the neighbour's path. I didn't find the Miscanthus (Maiden grass) offensive but scratched my head as to why the original designer or gardener planted a now large juniper in a 4' wide bed. This poor thing had been pruned into a ball over the years and, frankly, ugly.

Oh, yes, weeds took over the front of the bed as well!

Here's a before picture looking towards the house. The neighbour's walkway is to the left while the client's driveway is on the right.

Leslieville front garden renovation before 

After consulting with the client, we decided to remove everything except the Shasta daisy and one Blue Rug Juniper and chose perennials that tolerated/preferred full sun, flowered and attracted pollinators. She did like ornamental grasses so I replaced the Miscanthus with Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) which is more upright.

Other new perennials include "Zagreb" threadleaf coreopsis, English lavender and "Scarlet View" beebalm.

The final outcome is a little more colourful!

Leslieville front garden renovation after

More before and after pictures from different views:

Leslieville front garden renovation before

 Leslieville front garden renovation after 

Leslieville new front garden before 

Leslieville new front garden after 

Leslieville front garden before

Leslieville front garden after 

Leslieville front garden installation before 

Leslieville front garden installation after 

Leslieville front garden cleanup

A garden rescue in the Toronto's Leslieville neighbourhood

Is the word "rescue" too dramatic? Maybe, but this front garden needed some attention. Overrun with burdock, grass, thistle and violets, the front yard was out of place among the tidy front gardens on the east-end Toronto street.

Leslieville front garden cleanup before 

I asked the homeowner if she wanted to keep the variegated goutweed because it is an "effective" groundcover, to put it mildly. Very few weeds will try to grow among it so she decided to keep it.

So after weeding the front, we have this:

Leslieville front garden cleanup after

More "before" and "after" pictures, revealing a flagstone path!

Front garden clean up Leslieville before 

Front garden clean up Leslieville after

Leslieville front garden clean up before 

Leslieville front garden clean up after  

Front garden cleanup Leslieville before 

Front garden cleanup Leslieville after 

 Toronto Leslieville front garden clean up before

 Toronto Leslieville front garden clean up after

A Bloordale garden cleanup with new perennials and shrubs

A Bloordale Village front garden renovation and new plantings

This front yard garden is located near Bloor and Dufferin in the Bloordale Village (or simply Bloordale) neighbourhood of Toronto. I say it is roughly 15' by 30', faces south and receives full sun for the entire day. Weeds seem to thrive here!

Garden clean up Bloordale before

Other than a few hosta clumps, the raised bed is entirely infested (the best word I can think of) with creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides).   After a long day digging out the fleshy bellflower roots, adding 8 bags of composted sheep manure, transplanting and mulching, I was able to transform the above weed field into this:

Garden clean up Bloordale after 

Sure, these baby perennials (1 gallon containers) look small but give them 3 years and we should have nice clumps. New additions include  Liatris, "Autumn Joy" sedum, "May Night" perennial sage, purple coneflower, "Ruby Glow" barberry, "Franz Schubert" summer phlox, Agastache rugosa, and "Raspberry Ice" Heuchera, All love full sun and most attract pollinators.

Did I say I hated creeping bellflower?

Here are more before and after pictures:

Garden cleanup Bloordale before 

Garden cleanup Bloordale after 

Bloordale garden cleanup before

Bloordale garden clean up 

Bloordale garden cleanup before

Bloordale garden cleanup after

Bloordale garden clean up 

Bloordale garden clean up 

Bloordale garden cleanup before 

Bloordale garden cleanup after